Linux-Powered Wireless Hot Spots

摘要

Wireless access in public areas is provided by 802.11 hot spots, with varying types of access depending on the desires of the hot spot operator. Many commercial hot spots exist in locations such as Starbucks or fast-food franchises, whereas libraries and conference halls might choose to provide free services to visitors and attendees. A public hot spot can be entirely altruistic, offering visitors free network access in the area; it can be a business opportunity, charging visitors for network access and services; or it could be a combination, allowing visitors restricted access and providing paying customers increased bandwidth or greater access. Proprietary solutions are available for creating wireless hot spots, but why go for a closed-source solution when your favorite operating system and freely licensed tools can do it on a spare PC? As the operator of a public access point, you have several options. The easiest, of course, is simply to connect a wireless access point (AP) to your network and allow all traffic.